Sizing Up W.Va.'s Share of the Federal Stimulus

With the Senate debating a federal stimulus package, and the House having passed its own version of the bill, West Virginians have begun eyeing their potential share of the funding.

As The Associated Press reported earlier, West Virginia the House version included an estimated $1.4 billion for the Mountain State. Both The Charleston Gazette and the Charleston Daily Mail consider the funding possible for the state's education needs.

Public Broadcasting, meanwhile, notes the power Gov. Joe Manchin holds for parceling out some of the federal funds. "Some of the proposed stimulus money leaves no room for discussion, such as funding for Medicaid," that article said. "It will be Governor Manchin who decides which infrastructure projects receive funding." (Audio here.)

The Gazette also reports that Charleston city officials are seeking stimulus dollars.

Update: Public Broadcasting spoke to U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, about her "no" vote against the House version.

"According to the U.S. Votes database on the Washington Post Web site, Capito actually has been more likely to vote with her fellow Republicans than average," that article said. "Since she won election in 2000, Capito has voted about 92 percent of the time with Republicans, compared to an average of 89 percent."

Audio here. The article notes that Public Broadcasting next plans to interview Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., about the stimulus legislation.

Benjamin Off Massey Cases

West Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Benjamin has recused himself from all Massey Energy-related matters, pending a high-profile appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court, The Associated Press reports.

With a hearing set for March, that pending case has attracted 11 "friend of the court" briefs" from 48 different entities questioning Benjamin's presence in a $50 million coal contract dispute involving Massey.

"Benjamin says in a memo Saturday that it would be personally and judicially disrespectful to participate in cases involving Massey until the high court finishes its review," AP reports.

AP had earlier reported that Benjamin had intended to hear a Massey-related case scheduled for last week. That case has since been postponed until April. (A court spokeswoman initially told AP that Benjamin would not disqualify himself, but later said he was awaiting any requests for his recusal before deciding whether to remain.)

Massey recently filed its brief in the pending U.S. Supreme Court appeal, The Charleston Gazette reported. Massey expects "friend of the court" briefs supporting its position by Thursday.

Others with reports of Benjamin's recusal include MetroNews and WOWK-TV.
Update: The Charleston Gazette also has a report.

Ex-Manchin Aide Heading to Lobbying Firm

Gov. Joe Manchin's just-departed deputy chief of staff is joining a new lobbying firm headed by the state Democratic Party chairman, The Associated Press reports.

Joe Martin, who left the administration Friday, is the first hire for LGCR Government Solutions LLC, an offshoot of the Lewis, Glasser, Casey & Rollins law firm.

Firm partner Nick Casey, the Manchin-appointed state party chairman, is LGCR's manager according to the paperwork filed Friday setting it up.

Martin recently asked the state Ethics Commission "for a 'revolving door' exemption that would allow him to look for a new job," The Charleston Gazette reported last month.

"Under state ethics law, public officials may not seek employment with any businesses or individuals that they had regulatory or policy making authority over for 12 months after leaving government service," that article explains.

LGCR "provides government relations solutions at the state, federal and local levels," and works with associations, grassroots groups and political action committees, it said in a release.

DCCC Targeting Capito Over Stimulus Vote

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee lists U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, among 28 House GOP members it plans to attack with radio ads and a "grassroots initiative" after their caucus opposed last week's stimulus bill en masse.

Politico has an item on the DCCC announcement. That in turn cites an earlier Politico report that House Republicans assembled at Virginia's posh Homestead resort last week "rose in a standing ovation" when shown C-SPAN video of the stimulus vote.

The Toll on the W.Va. Turnpike

The Associated Press offers an overview of the West Virginia Turnpike's funding situation and road conditions, in advance of its parent agency's expected push for a toll hike.

AP took part in last week's media tour of the 88-mile highway, which focused on the effects wrought by Mother Nature and deferred maintenance. Others on the two-day review included The Charleston Gazette, the Charleston Daily Mail, The Register-Herald of Beckley, MetroNews (with photos and audio) , WOWK-TV and the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

Update: Public Broadcasting also has an item, and audio.

McKinney: I was with Steele All the Way

West Virginia GOP Chairman Doug McKinney notes in a press release that he supported the eventual winner of Friday's battle to lead the Republican National Committee "from the first ballot."

Michael Steele became the Republican's first black national party chairman in history. The the former lieutenant governor of neighboring Maryland prevailed on the sixth ballot, The Associated Press reports.

McKinney says he personally pledged his vote when Steele visited him "and national committee members Jim Reed and Donna Gosney in Charleston several weeks ago."

MetroNews' Talkline interviewed McKinney before Friday's vote, though only the audio indicates whom he planned to support.

Mollohan Still under the Microscope

Roll Call has devoted more than 3,300 words to an wide-ranging overview of the campaign contributions, federal earmarks and nonprofit organizations linked to U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and to the past coverage of such.

Here's the intro:

On March 22, 2004, Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) collected just over $300,000 for his re-election campaign, more than half the total that he spent for the two-year election cycle.

Of the donations he collected that day, at least $100,000 came from individuals tied to companies that have addresses in the office park built around the Alan B. Mollohan Innovation Center and operated by the West Virginia High Technology Cooperative, a foundation that Mollohan helped create.

The list of tenants in the office park reads like a who’s who of Mollohan campaign donors. But the connections between Mollohan and the building named after him don’t end there.

The office park is at the center of a web of relationships among a dozen or so individuals and companies that support Mollohan’s campaigns, his local booster organizations and the Robert H. Mollohan Family Charitable Foundation Inc.

Mollohan has provided many of these same companies with millions of dollars of federal earmarks, and announced millions more in grants to these companies from government agencies and larger federal contractors.

And the individuals who lead these companies also have deeply intertwined business relationships — many have overlapping memberships on the boards of organizations in the office park and of private for-profit companies.

Update: Mollohan responded to the latest article on MetroNews' Talkline.

Capito Subject of White House Charm Offensive

The Hill counts U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, among 11 House GOP members asked over to the White House by Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel the evening before Wednesday's vote on the $819 billion stimulus bill.

"The invitation was part of a full-court press the new president and his staff employed as they tried to get at least some bipartisan support for the bill," the newspaper reports. "House Republicans had high praise for Obama’s willingness to visit them, but were not swayed by the personal appeal."

The Hill also reports that U.S. Sen Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was on the guest list for the bipartisan White House cocktail reception that followed Wednesday's vote.

They Voted for You: SCHIP

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., helped pass legislation Thursday "extending government-sponsored health insurance coverage to about 4 million uninsured children," The Associated Press reports.

Approved 66-32, the measure "authorizes an additional $32.8 billion over the next 4 1/2 years for the State Children's Health Insurance Program," the article said. "The House plans to take up the same measure next week."

"The bill pays for expanding SCHIP by increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes from 39 cents to $1 a pack," AP reported. "The Democratic majority turned back Republican amendments to limit expansion of the program."

More Turnover for Team Manchin

Three senior aides plan to depart the administration of Gov. Joe Manchin, The Associated Press reports.

Deputy Chief of Staff Joe Martin is retiring at the end of the month, while General Counsel Carte Goodwin is expected to depart before the Feb. 11 start of the legislative session.

Lara Ramsburg, recently promoted to public policy director from communications director, says she will stay through the 60-day session but will leave before the June 30 end of the fiscal year.

Turnover has been limited since Manchin won his second term in November.

The Charleston Gazette also has an item.

Scarbro Promoted to W.Va. Dem Post

Derek Scarbro will succeed Tom Vogel as executive director of the state Democratic Party, its chairman announced in a press release.

Vogel earlier announced plans to step down March 31. Scarbro, his deputy, has held other posts within the party. The 28-year-old old was also president of the state's Young Democrats, the release said.

Analysis: Up to 77,000 West Virginians Out of Work by 2010

"The Mountain State’s unemployment rate will soar to between 8.7 percent and 9.5 percent by the final three months of 2009," The Associated Press reports, citing an analysis by Moody’s Economy.com.

Such rates have not been seen in West Virginia since the early1990s, and would be double what the state saw during that time period last year, AP reports.

West Virginia counted 39,000 unemployed residents last month, and a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 4.9 percent.

"The forecast released this week predicts possible double-digit unemployment for 10 states, including neighboring Ohio and Kentucky," the article said. "It also sees the national rate nearing 9 percent, or nearly 5 million people, by the end of 2010. The U.S. rate hit 7.2 percent in December."

West Virginia: Blue, But with an Asterisk

Gallup Poll Daily surveyed more than 350,000 U.S. adults last year, including at least 1,000 West Virginians, while seeking to measure partisanship in the states.

It found that those who identified themselves as at least leaning Democratic in the Mountain State held a 19 percentage point margin over those identified as leaning Republican.

Voter registration shows a gap of 26.5 percent between Democrats and Republicans. The poll notes that "this measure adds partisan-leaning independents to the percentage who identify with either of the parties."

The results for West Virginia put it among 29 states and Washington, D.C., that "had Democratic party affiliation advantages of 10 points or greater last year... In contrast, only five states had solid or leaning Republican orientations in 2008, with Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, and Alaska in the former group, and Nebraska in the latter."

But the poll found nine states and DC with larger Democratic margins than West Virginia, and three others at 19 percent. It also noted that West Virginia led a pack of four "solid" Democratic states that went for Republican John McCain in November.

The main implication of the poll results, according to Gallup: "As recently as 2002, a majority of states were Republican in orientation," but "the political landscape of the United States has clearly shifted in the Democratic direction.

"With Democratic support at the national level the highest in more than two decades and growing each of the last five years, Republican prospects for significant gains in power in the near term do not appear great," Gallup concludes. "But the recent data do show that party support can change rather dramatically in a relatively short period of time."

They Voted For You: Digital Delay

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, helped defeat a Senate-passed bill that aimed to "delay the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12," The Associated Press reports.

Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted for the motion to suspend rules and take up the measure, but the 258-168 margin was not enough.

Republicans opposed to the bill argued that "postponing the transition from the current Feb. 17 deadline would confuse consumers," the AP article said. "The defeat is a setback for President Barack Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who maintain that the Bush administration bungled efforts to ensure that all consumers -- particularly poor, rural and low-income Americans -- will be ready for next month's analog shut-off."

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill, said "a delay is the only way to ensure that millions of Americans don't see their television screens go dark next month," the article continues. "The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals still are not prepared for the transition."

'09 Session To End Without Live Coverage

West Virginia Public Broadcasting plans to end its tradition of covering live the final hours of the 60-day session of the Legislature.

The news outfit cited the recent trend in which "legislators have engineered a drama-free ending to the session." Noting the cost of that live coverage, including renting a satellite truck and hiring additional staff members, Public Broadcasting instead plans to spend the money to "strengthen day-to-day legislative coverage."

The announcement notes that its session mainstay, The Legislature Today, "will broadcast weekdays at 6:30 and 11:30 p.m. on West Virginia PBS. And for the first time, The Legislature Today will be available anytime on You Tube."

They Voted For You: Federal Stimulus

U.S. Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, helped pass "a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night, filled with new spending and tax cuts at the core of the young adminstration's revival plan for the desperately ailing economy," The Associated Press reports.

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, voted against the legislation, as did all of her GOP colleagues who took part in the 244-188 roll call.

"The vote sent the bill to the Senate, where debate is expected to begin as early as this week on a companion measure already taking shape," the article said. "Democratic leaders have pledged to have legislation ready for Obama's signature by mid-February."

As for the partisan divide, AP reported that "With unemployment at its highest level in a quarter-century, the banking industry wobbling despite the infusion of staggering sums of bailout money and states struggling with budget crises, Democrats said the legislation was desperately needed."

Republicans "said the bill was short on tax cuts and contained too much spending, much of it wasteful and unlikely to help laid-off Americans," the article continued.

Update: West Virginia's congressional delegation shared their voting plans with MetroNews (audio here) beforehand. The Charleston Daily Mail reported on Capito's "qualms" with the bill.

W.Va. Dem Executive Director Stepping Down

West Virginia's Democratic Party is looking for a new executive director, after Tom Vogel announced he plans to step down March 31.

Vogel did double-duty in 2008, as director of the Obama campaign's West Virginia efforts.

Those with the news include WSAZ-TV, the Herald-Dispatch of Huntington, and the Charleston Daily Mail.

Quote of the Day

"Had he not been nominated for treasury secretary, it's doubtful that he would have ever paid these taxes."

-- U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., explaining his vote against confirming Timothy Geithner for the cabinet post, as quoted by The Associated Press.

They Voted For You: Digital Delay

U.S. Sens. Robert C. Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both D-W.Va., joined the rest of their colleagues in a unanimous vote "to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12," The Associated Press reports.

Democrats "have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 changeover," the article said, while also quoting Rockefeller as the Senate's Commerce chairman.

"Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Rockefeller, the author of the bill to push back the deadline. "I firmly believe that our nation is not yet ready to make this transition at this time."

Public Broadcasting (with audio) reported earlier on disagreement within the state's delegation on the issue.

Byrd Votes Against Geithner

U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., voted Monday to oppose the confirmation of Timothy Geithner as President Obama's Treasury secretary, The Associated Press reports.

The 60-34 vote reflects concerns over how Geithner "did not pay all of taxes until he had been tapped to the president's Cabinet," the articlel said. "Geithner called it an unintentional oversight and settled his $34,000 overdue tax bill."